System and method for distributing emergency data messages to public safety answering points in a balanced manner

ABSTRACT

A system and method for routing emergency data messages to public safety answering points may include identifying PSAPs local to the user and configured to receive emergency data messages. A determination of distribution of previous emergency data messages to the identified PSAPs may be performed. Based on the distribution of previous emergency data messages to the identified PSAPs, one of the identified PSAPs may be selected and the emergency data message may be routed thereto.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application claims priority to co-pending Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/078,123 filed on Jul. 3, 2008; the entireteachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Emergency 911 services have traditionally been performed by a userplacing a telephone call to “911.” Prior to mobile communicationsdeveloping, users would dial “911” on landlines, and the public switchedtelephone network (PSTN) would route the call to a public safetyanswering point (PSAP) local to a street address of the landlinetelephone used to place the call.

With mobile and wireless telephones, the address of a user in anemergency call is unknown. To determine the address or location of thecaller, various techniques for determining geographic positioning of thecaller are performed, including using global positioning system (GPS)equipment and network assisted positioning by using triangulation, asperformed by a communications network. The communications networkidentifies the emergency “911” call and, based on the location of thecaller, routes the call to a local PSAP with respect to the location ofthe caller. Depending on the technology used by the PSAP, geographiccoordinates may be sent to the PSAP. If the PSAP is configured withenhanced “911” or E-911 Phase II, then a local automatic locationidentification (ALI) database may be used to convert the geographiccoordinates to address-based coordinates.

As mobile telecommunications have advanced, different forms of datamessaging communications have been developed, including text messaging,instant messaging, photo messaging, and video messaging. To accommodatethese new forms of communications, a few PSAPs have advertised specifictelephone numbers that users can send a text message, for example, tonotify emergency services of an emergency. The problem is that unless auser has saved the emergency telephone number in his or her mobiledevice, the user is unlikely to remember the telephone number or nothave time to enter the telephone number during an emergency situation.Furthermore, if the user has traveled any sufficient distance from aPSAP that has a specific telephone for sending text messages, then thePSAP is no longer local to the user. PSAPs, especially those inmetropolitan areas, can be overloaded with emergency calls, which causespeople with emergencies to have to wait to speak with an operator.

SUMMARY

To overcome the problem of users not being able to send emergency datamessages, such as text messages, to a common, easy to remember addressthat will be routed to a PSAP local to a user and to reduce waiting timefor responses to users, the principles of the present invention providefor a system configured to determine a PSAP local to the user and routean emergency data message to the PSAP. The system may further beconfigured to manage distribution of emergency data messages to PSAPs soas to balance the number of emergency data messages sent to the PSAPs.The balancing may be based on volume and/or capacity of the PSAPs.

One embodiment of a system for routing emergency data messages to publicsafety answering points may include a memory, input/output (I/O) unit,and processing unit in communication with the memory and I/O unit. Theprocessing unit may be configured to receive an emergency data messageand cell code identifier indicative of a location of a wirelesscommunications device of a user, identify PSAPs local to the user andconfigured to receive emergency data messages, and determinedistribution of previous emergency data messages to the identifiedPSAPs. The processing unit may further be configured to select one ofthe identified PSAPs to route the emergency data message based on thedistribution of previous emergency data messages to the identifiedPSAPs, and route the emergency data message to the selected PSAP.

One embodiment of a process for routing emergency data messages topublic safety answering points may include identifying PSAPs local tothe user and configured to receive emergency data messages. Adetermination of distribution of previous emergency data messages to theidentified PSAPs may be performed. Based on the distribution of previousemergency data messages to the identified PSAPs, one of the identifiedPSAPs may be selected and the emergency data message may be routedthereto.

One process for distributing emergency data messages at a PSAP mayinclude receiving an emergency data message at a PSAP. Distribution ofemergency data messages to operator stations configured to handle a typeof emergency data message of which the emergency data message isclassified may be determined. One of the operator stations may beselected based on the determined distribution, and the emergency datamessage may be distributed to the selected operator station.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described indetail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, which areincorporated by reference herein and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of illustrative network environment in whichusers of wireless communications devices are able to send emergency datamessages via an emergency data message router to local public safetyanswering points;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a user of a wireless communications deviceoperating in a cell site in which multiple PSAPs have differentcommunications capabilities;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative communications networkenvironment configured to receive and process emergency data messages toPSAPs local to users who sent the emergency data messages;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an illustrative process for a mobileswitching center to receive and process emergency data messages;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an illustrative process for selecting a PSAPlocal to a user who sent an emergency data message;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a more detailed illustrative process fordetermining a PSAP local to a user who sent an emergency data messagebased on PSAP distance from the user and communications capabilities ofthe local PSAPs;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an illustrative network environment inwhich emergency data messages may be distributed to PSAPs in a balancedmanner; and

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an illustrative process for distributingemergency data messages to PSAPs in a balanced manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With regard to FIG. 1, a network environment 100 provides users 102a-102 n (collectively 102) of wireless communications devices 104 a-104n (collectively 104), which may be mobile telephones, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), wireless electronic games, multi-mode telephones, orother electronic devices capable of communicating emergency datamessages (EDMs) 106 a-106 n (collectively 106) to public safetyanswering points (PSAPs) 108 a-108 n (collectively 108). As understoodin the art, multiple wireless network operators may be concurrentlyproviding wireless services using various operating frequencies andnetwork protocols. Emergency data messages may include text messages,instant messages (IMs), emails, photo messages, video messages, and thelike. The emergency data messages 106 may be communicated to anemergency network address, such as Internet Protocol (IP) domain routingaddress “emergency.org,” “911.911,” or any other network address, byusers 102 from the wireless communications devices 104. In oneembodiment, the emergency data messages 106 may be generated andcommunicated by activating a single emergency data message button,either a hard-button or a soft-button, that causes the wirelesscommunications devices 104 to generate a pre-established data message.

A preestablished or pre-formatted data message, such as a text message,may include information associated with a respective user, such as anetwork identification number (NID), mobile electronic deviceidentification number (MEID), which is commonly called a cell codeidentifier, user's name, telephone number, home or work address,secondary contact number, or any other information associated with auser such that an operator at a PSAP or emergency personnel (e.g.,police) may have information of the user if he or she is unable to beimmediately located. In addition, the emergency data messages 106 may beappended with a checksum, such that the message can be validated to bereceived without error. It should be understood that various checksumalgorithms may be employed and may or may not include capabilities todetect and correct errors. Alternatively, a “free-form” data message,such as a text message, may be sent to an emergency network address, butthe user may run the risk of being incomplete or too “cryptic” due tobeing in an emergency situation or using abbreviations unfamiliar toPSAP operators. The emergency data message may be communicated via thenetwork(s) 110 to a PSAP local to the respective user. As not allwireless communications devices are configured to generate preformattedemergency data messages, a user may generate and communicate a freeformemergency data message (e.g., text message, email, instant message,image message) to a network address, such as Internet domain name“911.911,” for routing to a PSAP local to the user. A freeform emergencydata message is any data message that is addressed and communicated to anetwork address for routing to a PSAP local to the user.

The networks 110 may include mobile networks, wireless communicationsnetworks, Internet, public switched telephone network (PSTN), or anyother network capable of communicating an emergency data message to thePSAPs 108. As shown, an emergency data message 106 a is communicatedfrom the wireless communications device 104 a via the network(s) 110 toan emergency data message router (EDMR) 112, which may be located at anemergency message address that is configured to determine a PSAP 108 athat services a geographic area in which the user 102 a is currentlylocated.

The emergency data message router 112 may be a centralized routerassociated with an address to which the emergency data messages 106 arecommunicated or may be configured as distributed routers that handleincoming emergency data messages from respective regions of the countryor world. The emergency data message router 112 may receive datacommunicated with an emergency data message that may be used to identifya geographic location, geographic area, cell site, or otherwise, asfurther described herein. In addition, the emergency data message router112 may determine which of the PSAPs local to a user sending anemergency data message has communications capabilities for handling thetype of emergency data message (e.g., text message) being sent. In oneembodiment, the EDMR 112 may recognize that a PSAP can only acceptcertain types of message formats based, and may perform a losslessmessage format translation from one format to another based upon thisrecognition.

With regard to FIG. 2, a cell site 200 operates to handle wirelesscommunications calls and messages communicated from users within thecell site 200. As shown, a user 202 using a wireless communicationsdevice 204 communicates an emergency data message 206 to any cell tower208 a-208 n (collectively 208) or other wireless access points withinthe range of the wireless communications device 204.

Each of the PSAPs 210 may have different communications capabilities.For example, while all the PSAPs have voice capabilities, some PSAPs maybe more limited. Not all PSAPs will have text messaging capabilities,image viewing capabilities (e.g., photographs and videos), e-mailcapabilities, and so forth. Depending on the type of emergency datamessage sent by the user 202 using the wireless communications device204, which may have a wide variety of messaging capabilities, theemergency data messages 206 may be communicated to a PSAP that is localto the user (e.g., within the cell site 200) and has communicationscapabilities that are compatible with the emergency data messages (e.g.,includes the ability to receive text messages through a mobile or othercommunications system, as understood in the art).

With regard to FIG. 3, a network environment 300 is configured to enablea user 302 using a wireless communications device 304 to communicateemergency data messages to public safety answering points 305 a-305 nand/or 305 m-305 z (collectively 305). The PSAPs 305 a-305 n arerepresentative of PSAPs that are capable of receiving text messages andtelephone calls, and the PSAPs 305 m-305 z are PSAPs that are capable ofreceiving emergency data messages in the form of e-mail messages orother data format that is generally communicated over IP networks, aswell as telephone calls. It should be understood that the PSAPs 305a-305 n and 305 m-305 z may overlap by one or more PSAP having multipletypes of communications capabilities. It should be understood that thecommunications capabilities of the PSAPs 305 may vary over time astechnology advances.

The user 302 may send an emergency data message package 306 by making anemergency data message request on the wireless communications device304. In making the emergency data message request, the user may select asingle button, multiple buttons, or use a menu system to cause thewireless communications device 304 to generate and communicate anemergency data message (EDM) 308 a. In one embodiment, an emergency datamessage 308 a may be a pre-established text message that includes NID,MEID, contact information of the user, such as telephone number, homeaddress, name, and other contact information, and insert geographiccoordinates, such as GPS coordinates, that identify a location at whichthe user 302 is located at the time the user makes the emergency datamessage request. Alternatively, the emergency data message 308 a may bea conventional data message (e.g., text message, instant message, oremail) that a user initiates without a template or pre-established databeing initially generated. The emergency data message package (EDMP) 306may include the emergency data message 308 a that may include up to 160characters, in the case of an SMS message, abbreviated dialing code 308b, and mobile directory number (MDN) 308 c.

The abbreviated dialing code 308 b may be an alphanumeric code that isstored in the wireless communications device 304 and communicated withthe emergency data message 308 a to a mobile switching center (MSC) 310.The abbreviated dialing code 308 b may be established by a serviceprovider and/or manufacturer of the wireless communications device 304.The abbreviated dialing code 308 b may essentially be any code,typically a ten digit code, that indicates that an emergency datamessage is being communicated from the wireless communications device304. As an analogy, on the voice network there are many different typesof abbreviated dialing codes, including “411” for placing an informationcall to a service provider, “911” for placing an emergency telephonecall, and so on. As an example, an abbreviated dialing code forindicating that an emergency data message is being communicated may be“0000000SOS.” Alternatively, if different types of emergency datamessages are available for selection using a menu system on the wirelesscommunications device 304, then different abbreviated dialing codes mayalso be selectively communicated to represent the selected emergencydata message that is being sent. For example, the abbreviated dialingcodes may include “000000SOS1,” “000000SOS2,” “000000SOS3,” and so on toindicate different types of emergencies and certain content in theemergency data messages. The different types of emergencies may includemedical condition, automobile accident, fire, assault, or any other typeof emergency data message that may be helpful to an operator at a PSAPfor dispatching emergency personnel.

For SMS messages, when the mobile switching center 310 receives theemergency data message 306, the mobile switching center 310 routes theemergency data message 306 to an originator data message servicecontroller (DMSC(O)) 316. The DMSC(O) 316 utilizes a process executed bya processing unit 312 a that determines whether the emergency datamessage 308 a is, in fact, an emergency data message being communicatedto a PSAP or a standard data message, such as a text message beingcommunicated between peers. In addition, the MSC 310, DMSC(O) 316, orother network node may perform additional functions, such as initiatecontinuous geographic coordinate or geo-coordinate updates to the PSAP,if the emergency data message 306 is determined to be inclusive ofcertain content, such as hostage situation, by inspecting theabbreviated dialing code or other data.

The DMSC(O) 316 may also include a memory 312 b, which may includerandom access memory, disk drive memory, or other memory as understoodin the art, that stores data and software and input/output unit 312 cthat communicates data over a network and with other local devices. Inone embodiment, the memory 312 b may store abbreviated dialing codes soas to be used by the processing unit 312 a in determining whether theemergency data message 308 a is, in fact, a priority message. In doingso, the processing unit 312 a processes or parses the emergency datamessage package 306 to determine whether an abbreviated dialing code 308b is included or otherwise communicated with the emergency data message308 a. If it is determined that the emergency data message is a prioritymessage, then the processing unit 312 a may communicate the abbreviateddialing code 308 b to an emergency data message short code database(EDMSC DB) 314, which may be local or remote from the DMSC(O) 316.

The emergency data message short code database 314 may include a listing(see TABLE I) of abbreviated dialing codes and short codes associatedtherewith so as to return an emergency data message short code 308 d tothe DMSC(O) 316 that is indicative of the type of emergency data message308 a. The emergency data message short code 308 d may be alphanumericdata and utilized by other nodes in the network environment 300 forprioritizing processing of the emergency data message package 306′,which includes the emergency data message 308 a (e.g., text), mobiledirectory number 308 c, emergency data message short code 308 d, andcell code 308 e. The cell code or cell code identifier 308 e is a datavalue associated with a cell of a mobile communications system and istypically determined by the mobile switching center 310 by determiningto which cell tower the wireless communications device 304 iscommunicating.

The DMSC(O) 316 processes the emergency data message 306′ for routing toemergency data message router 318. This processing may include messagedecoding of the abbreviated dialing code 308 b and initiating additionalaction, such as notifying alternative wireless carriers to providecontinuous geo-coordinate updates to the PSAP, if possible. In addition,the DMSC(O) 316 may perform message format translation from one formatto another format. In another embodiment, for SMS messages, the functiondescribed above could be performed at the MSC 310 or SMSC (not shown),which would avoid modification to the MSC 310 or inclusion of theDMSC(O) 316.

TABLE I ADC EDM Short Code TYPE SOS0 EMERGENCY0 Default SOS1 EMERGENCY1Medical SOS2 EMERGENCY2 Automobile Accident SOS3 EMERGENCY3 Fire SOS4EMERGENCY4 Assault

In the case of Instant Messaging, when the mobile device initiates anemergency IM, the IM is rerouted to the DMSC(O) 316 instead of theuser's normal IM service provider's servers. The DMSC(O) 316 performfunctions previously defined to determine the proper PSAP. For email,the addressee domain name is the emergency indicator. In one embodiment,the user's email provider routes the message to the appropriate DMSC(O)based on that addressee's Internet Protocol Domain Name Service (DNS)resolution. This DMSC(O) 316 may be a clearinghouse type of DMSC(O). Inanother embodiment, software on the device intercepts the email andreroutes it to the carrier's DMSC(O) for processing. If the DMSC(O) 316determines it is not an emergency, it forwards to the appropriate emailprovider's system.

The emergency data message router 318 may execute a process onprocessing unit 319 a that processes the emergency data message package306′ to communicate the cell code 308 e to a PSAP capabilities definingsystem (PCDS) 320. In an alternative embodiment, the emergency datamessage router 318 and PCDS 320 are configured on a single computingsystem. The processing unit 319 a may include one or more processors.Other computing and communications components, such as a memory 319 bfor storing data and software, input/output (I/O) unit 319 c forcommunicating data over a network, may be included in the emergency datamessage router 318, as understood in the art. The PCDS 320 may execute aprocess on a processing unit 322 a for determining PSAPs local to theuser 302 and communications capabilities of PSAPs that are determined tobe local to the user 302. The PCDS 320 may also include a memory 322 bfor storing memory and software and input/output unit 322 c forcommunicating data over a network and/or with the EDM router 318.Determination may be made on information provided as part of the messageincluding geo-coordinates of the sending device and geo-coordinates ofthe PSAPs using an algorithm to determine the nearest emergency serviceprovider as per the emergency type.

In determining local PSAPs, the PCDS 320 may receive the mobiledirectory number 308 c and cell code 308 e and use a three-digitexchange code portion of the MDN 308 c and/or cell code 308 e todetermine whether there is a PSAP local to the exchange code of thewireless communications device 304 by matching the three-digit exchangecode of the MDN 308 c and exchange code associated with the PSAPs.However, because the wireless communications device 304 is mobile andmay be utilized outside the exchange area in which the wirelesscommunications device 304 is initially registered, a PCDS 320 may or maynot use the MDN 308 c in determining a local PSAP to the user 302. Forexample, if the exchange code digits of the MDN 308 c are foreign to anarea in which the wireless communications device 304 is operating, thenthe PCDS 320 may be limited to using the cell code 308 e to determinePSAPs that are local to the user 302. A combination of both the cellcode 308 e and exchange code may be used to determine local PSAPs.Alternatively, a determination may be made on information provided aspart of the message including geo-coordinates of the sending device andgeo-coordinates of the PSAPs using a mathematical vector algorithm orequivalent database query to determine the nearest emergency serviceprovider as per the emergency type.

An emergency data message router database 324 may be in communicationwith the PCDS 320 to enable the PCDS 320 to look up PSAPs that are (i)local to the user 302 and (ii) have particular communicationscapabilities. The emergency data message router database 324 may belocal to or remotely located from the PCDS 320. The communicationscapabilities may include the ability to receive text messages, instantmessages, e-mails, photo messages, or video messages, as understood inthe art. In determining the communications capabilities, the PCDS 320and/or EDMR DB 324 may determine an address associated with a localPSAP, and the communications capabilities may be identified by the typeof address (e.g., telephone number or IP address) or position of theaddress within the EDMR DB 324.

With each of these communications capabilities, the PSAPs have access tocommunications network(s) that are capable of communicating compatibleemergency data messages of those types. It should be understood that thePCDS 320 and process being executed by the processing unit 322 a mayidentify the type of emergency data message 308 a that is beingcommunicated and determine which PSAP local to the user 302 is capableof receiving that type of emergency data message. For example, if theemergency data message 308 a is a text message, then a PSAP that is bothlocal to the user and has capabilities of receiving emergency textmessages may be determined to be most compatible with the emergency datamessage that is being communicated to request emergency assistance.

Although a PSAP that is closest to the user 302 may be considered idealfrom an emergency personnel deployment perspective, because emergencydata messages are being communicated by the user 302, and many PSAPs arenot equipped to handle certain types of communications, the PCDS 320 maydetermine whether any PSAPs local to the user 302 are compatible withthe emergency data message 306′ that is being communicated beforeselecting the PSAP to route the emergency data message 308 a. In otherwords, an emergency data message sent in its original form may be bestto provide to a PSAP in that same form to avoid loss of data, corruptionof the data, or misinterpretation by a PSAP operator. Any translationsthat may be performed to convert from one format to another arelossless; meaning no loss of any information.

To determine whether a PSAP has compatible communications, the emergencydata message router 318 may determine, by examining a packet header orother data field(s), generate, and communicate an emergency data messagetype (EDMT) 309, which may be an alphanumeric value and is indicative ofthe type of emergency data being communicated (e.g., text, image,instant message, email). The PCDS 320 may use and/or communicate theEDMT 309 to the emergency data message router database 324 to identifyany PSAPs local to the user that have communications capabilities thatare compatible with the emergency data message type. If, for example, itis determined by the PCDS 320 that there are no PSAPs local to the user302 that are compatible with receiving text messages based on the EDMT309, then the PCDS 320 may determine that an emergency text message maybe communicated to a local PSAP by sending the PSAP to a text-to-speechtranslator for converting the text-to-speech for audible communicationto the local PSAP. The emergency data message router database 324, inresponse to locating a local PSAP with the most compatiblecommunications capabilities, may return a PSAP telephone number 308 f orPSAP IP address 308 g, depending on the communications network that isavailable to communicate the type of emergency data message receivedfrom the wireless communications device 304. The PSAP telephone number308 f may be used for a text message or image message to be communicatedto the PSAP and the PSAP IP address 308 g may be used for communicatingan email to the PSAP, for example. Other types of message translationsmay be employed as available.

Depending on whether the selected PSAP is to be communicated via an SS7clearinghouse (CH) 326 a and SS7 network 326 b, IP network 327, wirelesscommunications network 330 (e.g., mobile network), or any othercommunications system or network, the emergency data message router 318may communicate the emergency data message 308 a to the telephone numberor address of the selected PSAP. If the emergency data message 306″ isto be communicated over the SS7-CH 326 a and network 326 b, then thePSAP telephone number 308 f is communicated with the emergency datamessage short code 308 d and emergency data message 308 a to the PSAP305 n that is determined to be local to the user 302 and capable ofreceiving the emergency data message 308 a having the appropriatecommunications network connection and software interface for displayingthe emergency data message 308 a.

The emergency data message package 306″ is communicated via aterminating data message service controller (DMSC(T)) 328 for routing tothe appropriate PSAP via the PSTN 329 a or wireless communicationsnetwork 330. If the emergency data message 308 a is a text message orimage, then the DMSC(T) 328 may route the EDMP 306″ via the wirelesscommunications network 330, including a mobile switching center 332 andbase station 334, to one of the PSAPs 336 a-336 n (collectively 336).The PSAPs 336 may be limited to wireless or mobile communications orhave multiple communications capabilities. It should be understood thatalthough the PSAPs 305 a-305 n, 305 m-305 z, and 336 a-336 n are shownto be in communication with different communications networks, that eachmay be in communication with one or more of the communications networkand have separate devices that communicate with respectivecommunications networks or have a device that is capable of receivingand/or consolidating emergency messages from different communicationsnetworks.

If, alternatively, the emergency data message 308 a is an email ratherthan a text or photo message, then the PCDS 320 determines a PSAP localto the user 302 that is configured to receive emails and routes theemergency data message package 306′″ via the IP network 327 to a PSAP305 m that is local to the user 302 and configured to receive anddisplay emails. In determining the appropriate PSAP, the PCDS 320accesses the emergency data message router database 324 to look-up alocal PSAP with email communications capabilities and receives the PSAPIP address 308 g from the emergency data message router database 324 forcommunicating the emergency data message package 306′″ to the PSAP IPaddress 308 g at the PSAP, in this case PSAP 308 m.

A communication link between the IP network 327 and PSTN 329 b may beformed by including a session border controller 338, gateway 340, andclass 4/5 telephony switch 342, or parts thereof, as understood in theart, so that emergency data messages may be routed via the IP network327 for distribution to a PSAP that is limited to communicating via thePSTN 329 b, as may be found in rural areas of the country. Becausedifferent portions of the PSTN 329 b may be configured to handle IPmessaging from the IP network 327, the PSTN 329 b is shown separatelyfrom the PSTN 329 a. Because the emergency data message 308 a includestext, if the emergency data message 308 a is communicated over the PSTN329 a or the IP network 327 and PSTN 329 b, the text is converted by atext-to-speech system 344 a or 344 b, respectively, to generate anaudible emergency message 346 a or 346 b, respectively. The decision andability to route the emergency data message 308 a via the SS7 network326 b or IP network 327 may be dependent upon the configuration of theEDM router 318. However, because the emergency data message 308 a is tobe expedited to a PSAP, other factors, such as network congestion,selected PSAP communications capabilities, or other factors, may be usedby the EDM router 318 to select which network path to communicate theemergency data message 308 a. In addition, the EDM router 318 may raisethe priority level on the IP packet if quality of service capabilitiesare available in the network.

More specifically, the emergency data message router database 324 mayinclude a database or table that stores and manages, and/or alsoperforms algorithm calculations to arrive at, PSAP cell codes,capabilities, and network addresses so that the PCDS 320 may select anappropriate PSAP to communicate the emergency data message based on anumber of factors. The factors may include distance from the user, typeof emergency data message, network connection, which may be indicated bywhether a network address is available, geographic coordinates, and soforth. An illustrative listing of a table that may be managed andoperated by the emergency data message router database 324 is shown inTABLE II below.

TABLE II Network Addresses Text/Image PSAP Cell Exchange Voice (MobileEmail PSAP Code Codes Capabilities (PSTN) Network) (IP Address) Easton3719 405 Voice 972-405-1234 — — Weston 3720 826, 259 Voice, Text972-826-1234 972-259-9876 — Central 1 3721, 3729 408 Voice 214-408-9876— — Central 2 3721, 3730 528, 526 Voice, Text 214-528-1234 214-526-5555— Central 3 3721, 3729 528, 259 Voice, Text, 214-528-5678 214-259-5555127.37.17.38 Image, Email South 1 3722, 3741 699 Voice 817-699-1234 — —South 2 3722, 3733 347, 283 Voice, Text 817-347-1234 817-283-5555 —North 3723 277, 623 Voice, Text, 972-277-1234 972-623-5555 128.94.1.23Image, Email

The EDM router 318, PCDS 320, EDMR DB 324 or combination thereof mayroute or reformat, re-address, and/or route the emergency data message308 a. If a determination is made that a PSAP does not have a compatiblecommunications capability as an emergency data message, then theemergency content of the emergency data message may be reformatted,re-addressed, and re-routed. If the emergency data message type matchesthe communications capabilities of a selected local PSAP, then theemergency data message 308 a may be routed accordingly.

As an example, if the emergency data message type of the emergency datamessage 308 a is a text message being communicated using SMS and thecommunications capabilities of a local PSAP includes text messaging,then the emergency data message package 306″ is routed to the SS7-CH 326a for delivery to a wireless device at one of the PSAPs 305 a-305 n. Ifthe communications capabilities of a local PSAP includes instantmessaging without text messaging, then the emergency data message 308 ais reformatted and re-addressed to comply with instant message protocolsand sent to an instant message client at the PSAP via either the SS7-CH326 a and network 326 b or IP network 327, depending on a networkaddress (e.g., telephone number or IP address) of the PSAP. If thecommunications capabilities of a local PSAP includes email, then theemergency data message 308 a may be reformatted and re-addressed tocomply with email protocols and sent to a PSAP email client with apriority indication, either the emergency data message short code 308 dor otherwise. If the communications capabilities of a local PSAP islimited to voice only, then the emergency data message 308 a iscommunicated to the text-to-speech system 344, as understood in the art,via the DMSCM 328 for synthesizing speech of content of the emergencydata message 308 a and communication to the local PSAP. Alternatively,if the message format is not reformattable, nor is easily translated tospeech, then the message may be routed to an alternative PSAP.

The PCDS 320 may further be configured to determine which of the PSAPsidentified to be local to the wireless communications device andconfigured to handle emergency data messages of an emergency datamessage type of which the emergency data message 308 a is classified tocommunicate the emergency data message 308 a and the associated data. Indetermining which PSAP to communicate the emergency data message 308 a,the processing unit 322 a of the PCDS 320 may access historicalinformation stored in the memory 322 b that is indicative of emergencydata messages previously sent to the identified PSAPs. The informationmay include statistical and/or aggregate information that indicates atotal number of emergency data messages that have been sent to each ofthe PSAPs over a given time period, such as within the past hour, eighthours, day, or week. The historical information may further include arecord of how may operator stations or telecommunicator positions areconfigured to receive different emergency data message data typeslocated at each of the PSAPs.

In determining which PSAP to send the emergency data message 308 a, theprocessing unit 322 a of the PCDS 320 may use the historical informationso as to balance the number of emergency data messages sent to each ofthe identified PSAPs. A variety of different selection techniques may beused in selecting which PSAP to send the emergency data message 308 a.For example, the processing unit may balance the number of emergencydata messages communicated to each of the identified PSAPs by volume ortotal number, by volume over a given time period (e.g., emergency datamessages per hour), or by average per operator station at each of theidentified PSAPs (e.g., emergency data messages per operator station).Alternatively, the PCDS 320 may select an identified PSAP based onhistorical capacity or throughput (e.g., total number of emergency datamessages processed per hour). It should be understood that any number ofdifferent measurement standards may be utilized to determine which ofthe identified PSAPs to send the emergency data message 308 a.

The PCDS 320 may use the historical information in conjunction withlocation to determine an optimal PSAP to route the emergency datamessage 308 a. The determination may include determining distribution ofprevious emergency data messages sent to PSAPs identified the PCDS to belocal to the user and configured to receive emergency data messages ofthe type being routed. For example, the PCDS 320 may determine anaverage amount of time that it takes for each of the identified PSAPs toprocess or otherwise dispose of emergency data messages and compare thatstatistic to distance of the identified PSAPs from the user. Acomputation may be made as to whether it will take more time for closerPSAP to the user to process the emergency data message 308 a than a PSAPthat is farther from the user, thereby providing for a normalization ofexpected process time and distance between the different identifiedPSAPs. For example, a PSAP may be located 10 miles from the user, buthave an expected process time of 1 minute, whereas a PSAP located 2miles from the user may have an expected process time of 15 minutes,thereby making the PSAP farther from the user a better choice than thecloser PSAP.

TABLE III is an illustrative table showing historical information ofPSAPs. The historical information may include EDMs sent in the pasthour, average processing time per EDM, and number of operator stationsat the PSAPs. The PCDS 320 may utilize the statistical information andaggregate information to make a determination to distribute theemergency data messages. For example, if a user in cell code 3721, whichis covered by both Central 1 and 2 PSAPs, the system may select theCentral 2 PSAP to handle the call as (i) only 28 emergency data messageshave been sent to that PSAP in the past hour, which is below average,(ii) the capacity (i.e., operator stations) is higher than the Central 1PSAP, and (iii) the average processing time per emergency data messageis lower than Central 1 PSAP. It should be understood that a variety ofdifferent statistical parameters may be stored at the PCDS to managedistribution of emergency data messages to PSAPs. It should also beunderstood that a variety of different algorithms may be utilized toselect a PSAP to send an emergency data message. Although specificclassifications of emergency data messages are not shown, the historicalinformation shown in TABLE III may be expanded to show more resolutionbased on different types of emergency messages (e.g., text, email,instant message), as different emergency message types may take moretime to process than others due to volume, interface, operator skill,etc.

TABLE III PSAP Cell Exchange Avg EDMs Sent EDMs Sent in AverageProcessing Operator PSAP Code Codes per Hour Past Hour Time per EDM(mins) Stations Easton 3719 405 27 37 1.7 1 Weston 3720 826, 259 38 432.4 3 Central 1 3721, 3729 408 57 66 3.6 6 Central 2 3721, 3730 528, 52685 28 1.2 8

With regard to FIG. 4, an illustrative process 400 of a systemidentifying an emergency data message is provided. The process 400starts at step 402. At step 404, a data message is received. The datamessage may be a text message, instant message, email, or any other datamessage that may be communicated from a wireless communications device.At step 406, a determination may be made as to whether an emergencyabbreviated dialing code is communicated with the data message. If so,then at step 408, a short code associated with the emergency abbreviateddialing code may be requested. In addition, a determination of a cellcode in which the wireless communications device that communicated theemergency data message may be determined. The emergency data message,short code, and cell code may be communicated to a PSAP at step 412. Incommunicating to the PSAP, the information, including the emergency datamessage, short code, and cell code, is communicated via a communicationsnetwork to a network address for determining a PSAP local to a user whosent the emergency data message. If, at step 406, an emergencyabbreviated dialing code is not communicated with the data message, thenat step 414, the data message is communicated to a recipient, asunderstood in the art. The process ends at step 416.

With regard to FIG. 5, an illustrative process 500 may be performed by aPSAP capabilities defining system, which may be in communication with anemergency data message router. At step 502, an emergency data message,NID, and cell code identifier of a wireless communications device of auser may be received. In addition, a mobile directory number may also bereceived. At step 504, a PSAP local to the user may be selected. Inselecting the local PSAP, a determination of the communicationscapabilities at one or more PSAPs local to the user may be determinedusing the cell code identifier and/or mobile directory number so as todetermine which PSAP is nearest the user that has communicationscapabilities that are most compatible with the format of the emergencydata message. At step 506, the emergency data message may be sent to theselected PSAP.

With regard to FIG. 6, a more detailed process 600 for determining towhich PSAP to communicate an emergency data message is provided. At step602, a query of a PSAP database may be made to determine how many localPSAPs are available with respect to a user who communicates an emergencydata message. At step 604, a determination as to communicationscapabilities of each of the local PSAPs may be made. The determinationmay include determining the types of data messages that may be receivedby each of the PSAPs and communications networks to which the PSAPs arein communication. At step 606, a determination may be made as to whetherthere are more than one local PSAP. If not, then at step 608, a networkaddress, such as a telephone number, IP address, or otherwise, of thelocal PSAP may be obtained. At step 610, the emergency data message maybe sent to the PSAP using the appropriate communications channel. Forexample, in the event that the emergency data message is a text message,then if the network address of the local PSAP is a telephone number thatis operating on a mobile communications system, then the emergency datamessage may be communicated over the mobile communications system to thePSAP.

If at step 606, a determination is made that more than one local PSAP isavailable, then at step 612, a determination as to which of the PSAPsthe emergency data message type is most compatible and closest to theuser who sent the emergency data message. At step 614, a network addressof the PSAP determined to be the most compatible to the emergency datamessage type and closest to the user may be obtained. Although it may bedesirable to identify the closest PSAP to the user and send theemergency data message to that PSAP, if the PSAP does not havecommunications capabilities to receive the emergency data message, thenit may be as or more beneficial to find a PSAP that is further from theuser and has the communications capabilities that accommodates the typeof emergency data message that was sent so that an operator at the PSAPcan handle the emergency request more efficiently. For example, if aPSAP is close to a user, but does not have text messaging capabilitiesand another PSAP which may be a few miles farther than the user but doeshave text messaging capabilities, then the emergency data message may bebetter communicated to the PSAP farther away even though the textmessage may be communicated to a text-to-speech system that may convertthe information in the emergency text message for audible play to anoperator at the closer PSAP. If no local PSAPs have text messagingcapabilities, an emergency text message may be communicated to atext-to-speech converter so that the synthesized speech can be routed toa PSAP closest to the user. The process 600 continues at step 610, wherethe emergency data message is communicated to the selected PSAP.

With regard to FIG. 7, an illustration of a network environment 700similar to that of FIG. 3, including the PCDS 320 and PSAPs 305 a-305 n(collectively 305), is shown. A network 702 is configured to receive theemergency data message package 306 from the wireless communicationsdevice 304 and route the EDMP 306 to the emergency data message router318, which may have a network address, such as internet domain name‘911.911’, so as to be easy for users to remember. The EDMR 318 mayparse the EDMP 306 to select parameters, such as cell code and mobiledirectory number, to communicate to the PCDS 320. Alternatively, theentire EDMP 306 may be communicated to the PCDS 320. The PCDS 320 mayidentify one or more PSAPs local to the wireless communications device304 and configured to receive emergency data messages of the same typeas the emergency data message being communicated is classified (e.g.,SMS text message), as previously described. In one embodiment, the PCDSis configured to distribute the emergency data messages based oncapacity utilization of each of the identified PSAPs.

The EDMP 306′ is communicated to a selected PSAP 305 a. The PSAP 305 aincludes a PSAP server 704 includes a processing unit 706 and software708 that may be configured to receive and process the EDMP 306′. ThePSAP server 704 may also include memory 710 for storing data and I/Ounit 712 for communicating data over the network 702 and with operatorstations 714 a-714 n (collectively 714). In processing the EDMP 306′,the software 708 may be configured to manage distribution of anemergency data message 716 to the operator stations 714. Selection of anoperator station may be based on a variety of factors, includingdetermining the configuration of each of the operator stations 714 todetermine which can handle the type of emergency data message received,number of emergency data messages distributed to each of the operatorstations 714, pending emergency data messages to be processed at each ofthe operator stations 714, average rate at which each emergency datamessage is being processed at each of the operator stations 714, and soon. Selection of the operator station may be made to balance the numberof emergency data messages, to minimize waiting time for response toeach of the emergency data messages, or to maximize utilization of eachoperator at the PSAP, for example.

The emergency data message 716 may be processed by the software 708 fordistribution to operator stations 714 that are limited to receivingemergency data messages. Alternatively, the emergency data message 716may be distributed to operator stations 714 that are configured tohandle both emergency data messages and emergency telephone calls. Theoperator stations 714 may enable the operator to respond to theemergency data message 716 by communicating a text message, emailmessage, or any other type of message that is the same or analogous tothe classification of the emergency data message 716. In processing theemergency data message 716, the operator at the telecommunicatorposition may use a pre-scripted TDD/TTY or any other protocol messagefor responding to the sender of the emergency data message 716. Afterthe operator has processed or handled the emergency data message, anarchive of the emergency data message 716, map coordinates, geographiccoordinates of the user, other information associated with processingthe emergency data message 716, and response thereto, may be generatedand saved by the software 708 at the PSAP for later retrieval, ifdesired.

In addition to selecting operator stations and distributing emergencydata messages thereto, the software 708 of the PSAP server 704 may beconfigured to receive an emergency data message processed indicator 618from the operator stations in response to the emergency data messagesbeing processed. The PSAP server 704 may communicate each processedindicator 618 to the EDMR 318 to provide the PCDS 320 with notice so asto track statistics of performance of each of the PSAPs 305. Theprocessed indicator 618 may include information, such as MDN, so thatthe PCDS 320 can identify which emergency data messages have beenprocessed to update the historical information stored thereat. It shouldbe understood that rather than sending a processed indicator that thePSAP server 704 may maintain statistical information for the PCDS 320 torequest or for “pushing” to the PCDS 320 to maintain an up-to-datestatus of each PSAP (e.g., 50%, 80%, 100%, 120% capacity utilization) ora status indicator (e.g., “available,” “maximum capacity,” “overcapacity”).

With regard to FIG. 8, an illustrative process 800 may be utilized by aPCDS or other network device to distribute emergency data messages toPSAPs. At step 802, PSAPs local to the user and configured to receiveemergency data messages may be identified. The PSAPs may be identifiedby a cell code, mobile directory number, or other identifier(s)associated with a wireless communications device that communicated anemergency data message. At step 804, distribution of previous emergencydata messages to the identified PSAPs may be determined. Thedistribution of previous emergency data messages may be from historicalinformation stored at the PCDS. At step 806, based on the distributionof previous emergency data messages to the identified PSAPs, one of theidentified PSAPs to route the emergency data message may be selected. Inselecting the PSAP, information indicative of capacity utilization,volume of emergency data messages previously sent to the identifiedPSAPs, or other historical information factors may be used in routingthe emergency data message to the selected PSAP. The emergency datamessage may be distributed to the selected PSAP at step 808.

Although the principles of the present have primarily been describedwith regard to wireless communications devices, it should be understoodthat wired communications devices, including wired/wireless computers,may be adapted to include emergency messaging, as described herein. Oneor more buttons or other initiation devices may be provided on the wiredcommunications devices to generate and communicate an emergency datamessage to a network location for routing to a PSAP local to the user.In adapting the wired communications devices, software may be includedin the devices to generate and communicate an emergency data message(e.g., text message or email) using a communications protocol that iscapable of being communicated over the communications network (e.g.,public switched telephone network, cable network, Internet), asunderstood in the art. Information specific to the user, location of theuser, or otherwise may be included in the emergency data message. Forexample, name, address, number of people in residence, photograph,medical conditions, or any other information may be pre-established forretrieval and inclusion in the emergency data message, thereby providinginformation to an operator at a PSAP to provide emergency personnel,such as police, firemen, or medical personnel.

The previous detailed description is of a small number of embodimentsfor implementing the invention and is not intended to be limiting inscope. One of skill in this art will immediately envisage the methodsand variations used to implement this invention in other areas thanthose described in detail. The following claims set forth a number ofthe embodiments of the invention disclosed with greater particularity.

We claim:
 1. A system for routing emergency data messages to publicsafety answering points (PSAPs), said system comprising: a memory; aninput/output (I/O) unit; a processing unit in communication with saidmemory and I/O unit, and configured to: receive an emergency datamessage and cell code identifier indicative of a location of a wirelesscommunications device of a user, wherein the received emergency datamessage is of a data message type including at least one of textmessage, instant message (IM), email, photo message, and video message;identify PSAPs local to the user and configured to receive emergencydata messages, wherein said emergency data messages are of a datamessage type including at least one of text message, instant message(IM), email, photo message, and video message; determine whether thecapabilities of the identified PSAPs local to the user are matched withthe data message type of the received emergency data message; based onthe determination of whether the capabilities of the identified PSAPslocal to the user are matched with the data message type of the receivedemergency data message, select one of the identified PSAPs to route thereceived emergency data message; route the received emergency datamessage to the selected PSAP; store historical information of emergencydata messages communicated to PSAPs in said memory, the historicalinformation including distribution of the emergency data messages;access the historical information stored in said memory; update thehistorical information stored in said memory after routing the emergencydata message to the selected PSAP; receive data from respective PSAPs towhich the emergency data messages were sent indicating that theemergency data messages were processed; and update the historicalinformation in said memory to include information reflective of theprocessed emergency data from the respective PSAPs; generate a processedemergency data message per time unit statistical value; and route theemergency data message based on the processed emergency data message pertime unit statistical value.
 2. The system according to claim 1, whereinsaid processing unit is configured to select the PSAP to balancedistribution of the emergency data messages among the identified PSAPs.3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said processing unit isconfigured to select the PSAP based on number of operator stationsconfigured to receive a type of emergency data message of which is theemergency data message at each of the identified PSAPs.
 4. The systemaccording to claim 3, wherein the processing unit is configured tobalance the number of emergency data messages based on an averagedefined by the emergency data messages on a per operator station at eachPSAP basis.
 5. A method for routing emergency data messages to publicsafety answering points (PSAPs), said method comprising: identifyingPSAPs local to the user and configured to receive emergency datamessages, wherein said emergency data messages are of a data messagetype including at least one of text message, instant message (IM),email, photo message, and video message; determining whether thecapabilities of the identified PSAPs local to the user are matched withthe data message type of a received emergency data message, wherein saidreceived emergency data message is of a data message type including atleast one of text message, instant message (IM), email, photo message,and video message; based on the determination of whether thecapabilities of the identified PSAPs local to the user are matched withthe data message type of the received emergency data message, selectingone of the identified PSAPs to route the received emergency datamessage; routing the received emergency data message to the selectedPSAP; storing historical information of emergency data messagescommunicated to PSAPs in said memory, the historical informationincluding distribution of the emergency data messages; accessing thehistorical information stored in said memory; updating the historicalinformation stored in said memory after routing the emergency datamessage to the selected PSAP; receiving data from respective PSAPs towhich the emergency data messages were sent indicating that theemergency data messages were processed; and updating the historicalinformation in said memory to include information reflective of theprocessed emergency data from the respective PSAPs; generating aprocessed emergency data message per time unit statistical value; androuting the emergency data message based on the processed emergency datamessage per time unit statistical value.
 6. The method according toclaim 5, wherein selecting includes selecting the PSAP to balancedistribution of the emergency data messages among the identified PSAPs.7. The method according to claim 5, wherein selecting includes selectingthe PSAP based on number of operator stations at each of the identifiedPSAPs configured to receive a type of emergency data message of whichthe emergency data message is categorized.
 8. The method according toclaim 7, further comprising balancing the number of emergency datamessages sent to the PSAPs based on an average defined by the emergencydata messages on a per operator station at each PSAP basis.
 9. A methodfor distributing emergency data messages at a PSAP, said methodcomprising: receiving an emergency data message at a PSAP, wherein thereceived emergency data message is of a data message type including atleast one of text message, instant message (IM), email, photo message,and video message; determining distribution based on the data messagetype of emergency data messages to operator stations configured tohandle the emergency data message type of which the received emergencydata message is classified; selecting one of the operator stations basedon the determined distribution to distribute the received emergency datamessage; and distributing the received emergency data message based onthe data message type to the selected operator station.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 9, wherein distributing the emergency data messageincludes: determining how many emergency data messages have beendistributed to each operator station; and selecting the operator stationto distribute the emergency data message to balance a number ofemergency data messages sent to each operator station.
 11. The methodaccording to claim 9, further comprising: determining a rate at whichemergency data messages are being processed at each operator station;and selecting the operator station to route the emergency data messagebased on a rate at which emergency data messages are being processed ateach operator station and a number of emergency data messages inrespective queues at each operator station.
 12. The method according toclaim 9, further comprising: communicating statistical information to anetwork node in response to processing emergency data messages receivedfrom the network node, the statistical information including anindication of at least one emergency data message being processed.